The Forgetful Grandpa

I came across this article about language, brains and Alzheimer’s. A Canadian study shows bilingualism has protective effect in delaying onset of dementia by four years.

I thought of my grandfather. He had always been this crazy old man for as long as I could remember. He would point at our elementary school geography textbook and said he learned those facts in college. We children used to laugh at him, wondering whether he did go to college or not. Later I learned to associate his memory loss with Alzheimer’s.

He liked to read newspapers and magazines. His reading capability deteriorated as the disease got the better of him. First he could finish the entire paper from first page to last. Then he could only finish 4 pages, then down to 2 … I remember seeing him, using his finger, trying to write out the Chinese characters on his leg. That didn’t help either. Finally he couldn’t even finish half a page in one long day.

The only thing that reminded us of his youth and his western-style education was a picture of him in his twenties. Handsome, impeccably groomed, he was wearing a suit, a tie and a pair of nice looking glasses. The image was in stark contrast with both his aging self and the uniform-like outfits that dominated the early 70’s in China.

His pro-West tendency was especially demonstrated when he stubbornly pushed us to learn English and insisted we should study abroad one day. He died one month after I arrived in US.

There is always the fear in me that the disease that claimed my grandpa’s brain will eat me away slowly when I get old. There is no time to worry about it though. We only have time to live life to its fullest, to explore the world, to live the dreams and good lives that all grandparents had hoped for their grandchildren. When the day does come, I know I would also put up a good fight just like grandpa did.

The Daily English Show and Sozo Exchange

When I was in school studying English, I hated almost all the text books and learning materials. They were not only useless; they were just so damn boring. If doctors could prescribe reading them as a remedy to insomnia, 80 percent of the patients would be in sound sleep in 60 seconds. The only lucky break I got was watching Follow Me after school.

It used to be only “authoritative” institutions—like BBC—are able to produce the high-quality contents in ESL learning. The came along Internet. It shifts that power to the individuals, who own a cheep digital camcorder and have a passion to teach. And you would be surprised by what a great work those passionate people could have done, once they have the means to do it. Here are two examples:

First, The Daily English Show, produced—almost single handedly—by a girl named Sarah, a New Zealander living in Japan. I couldn’t keep up with writing a blog everyday. And yet, she’s been churning out very sophisticated video with great contents every 24 hours for over a year! Here is the latest. She’s on the road.



Second, Sozo Exchange, produced by Manny in Los Angels. His video English lessons, now five episodes in total, are much better than many of which I’ve seen done by professionals. I spoke with him once, and asked how he could manage to do such fine pieces. The secret, as he gladly shared, is one word: Hollywood. It’s the center of the entertainment industry. All kinds of talents—actors, screen writers, cameraman, editors, etc.—are very handy.

If they can keep million of people sitting in the dark for two hours, then they can do the same magic of sound and scenes to the English learners.

Memory through Association

I started learning Spanish since the New Year. After 4 months, I am sad to report my Spanish has not made very far beyond hello and goodbye. There is just not enough time to fulfill all life’s obligations. After a long day’s work and chores, one can always find excuses not to study.

The road to master Spanish may be long and winding, but there is help along the way. Not in the form of teachers or classroom learning, (those work best if you have time and money), I am referring to the tremendous resources on the Internet. There are many podcasts out there that target Spanish learners of different levels. There are language exchange websites or social networking websites where you can find groups of people just like you who are studying a foreign language. Videos are one of my favorites because they are vivid and fun.

I ran into these two little Spanish words in a podcast one day: 1) ojo which means eye 2) lejos which means far. It was hard to memorize them for someone who barely spends 15 minutes on Spanish every day.

Luckily I was able to locate a video clip of my favorite singer Andrea Bocelli singing “Besame Mucho”. These two words happened to be part of the lyrics.

All memory techniques rely on association. When you watch this youtube video, you will know why I will probably never forget the “ojos” if I can “mirarme en tus ojos” (see myself in your eyes) and why I will always associate “lejos” with the sad yet beautiful verse “muy lejos de ti” (very far from you).